National Museum of the Marine, Toulon, France

National Museum of the Marine is located in the historic centre of Toulon on Monsenergue Square. The exposition is placed in the old city arsenal (built in 1814 during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte). Central facade of the museum is decorated with impressive statues of the Atlantes created the famous master of the 17th century, Pierre Puget.

The visitors of the museum can see here the most unique collection of models and maquettes of marine vessels for different purposes in a variety of scales (starting from the 18th century to the present day), from the ancient galleys to modern aircraft carriers.

Moreover a variety of ship equipment, collection of old cannons and the first 'version' of the famous Maxim gun, the samples of the sailors’ uniforms of different years and their camp household items are kept here.

Also unique historical documents related to the activities of the port of Toulon and magnificent works of famous marine painters are among the exhibits. It is worth specially focus that the Museum of the Marine of in Toulon has in its exposition the entire 'Russian' section where you can see many genuine artifacts devoted to the Russian-French relations.

References:

info-provence.com

Museums in France

User Reviews

Joel Mansford (2 years ago)
Exhibits are interesting, there's an English audio guide but disappointingly none of the cards on the exhibits are in dual-language meaning those without audio guide you have to use Google translate to understand

Andrew Dotchin (3 years ago)
Besides a comprehensive history of the French navy it is situated in the middle of the port where the modern day navy can be seen as well

Ramachandran Ashokkumar (3 years ago)
Very nice and very much informative. Very organised and must visit place to know about French Naval base history

Le mouton qui Dab EA (3 years ago)
Very good museum with a lot of things to see, with a free audio-guide that gives good and interesting information. So don't hesitate!

Steven Benjamin (3 years ago)
Excellent museum for the price, and a great way to escape the rain! They provide audio guides in English and interesting exhibits of the history of Toulon port and French history in general. Would recommend spending an hour or so here to get a insight into what Toulon was like in the past....before the cruise ships arrived!

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